Tuesday 24 November Bats
8.45 Arrival of participants
9.00 Words of welcome and introduction by Peter Ros, New Dutch Waterline
9.10 Bats in the New Dutch Waterline by Hermans Limpens, Dutch Mammal Society
9.30 Tomasz Kokurewicz, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences
Management Plan for the Natura 2000 site "Nietoperek" (Western Poland)
The plan designs the conservation measures for the largest winter bat colony in Central Europe and allows local communities to develop the tourist industry without causing harm for the bats. The conservation oriented researches made by an international team of bat workers included: (1) every month winter censuses on planned and operated underground tourist trails, (2) automatic recording of bat activity during hibernation, (3) study on the effect of human disturbance on bat hibernation, (4) summer radio-tracking study, (5) bat detector work and (6) autumn swarming study.
10.00 Florian Gloza-Rausch, Noctalis Fledermaus-Zentrum Bad Segeberg
Bats in the Segeberger Kalkhöhle: joining nature and tourism
The Segeberger Kalkhöhle are an inspiring example of nature conservation, local authorities, tourist agency and Karl May events going hand in hand in a Natura 2000 area. A special bat information center 'Noctalis' has been developed.
10.30 break
11.00 Wout Willems, Vleermuizenwerkgroep Natuurpunt vzw
Antwerp: examples of collaboration between cultural heritage, tourism and nature conservation
The double belt of fortresses around Antwerp is the most important hibernating site for bats in Flanders. In most of these fortresses, bat populations are endangered by restoration, recreation or other activities. However, there are ways to combine bats and various other functions. Examples like Fort Kessel show that collaboration between cultural heritage, tourism and nature conservation is possible.
11.30 John Dobson, Essex Mammal Surveys
Adapting bunkers left in a woodland area of Essex into hibernation sites for four species of bats
This presentation will show how bunkers left in a woodland area of Essex by the United States Air Force have been successfully adapted into hibernation sites for four species of bats. In the fifteen years since the start of the project, numbers of hibernating bats have steadily increased, with over 100 bats now being regularly recorded.
12.30 lunch
13.30 Fred de Boer and Sander van de Koppel, Wageningen University
Understanding the New Dutch Waterline objects as bat hibernation sites
The New Dutch Waterline objects are important bat hibernation sites, but little is known about the relative importance of object size, temperature, humidity, spatial configuration of a group of hibernation sites, or other factors influencing species composition and abundance of the hibernating bats. Results will be presented quantifying the relative effect of these factors on bats from a study at bunkers around Wassenaar, together with preliminary results of a similar study that is at present being carried out at the New Dutch Waterline, which will also incorporate spatial factors like vegetation cover and distances between objects. Contact Fred de Boer for more details: Fred.deBoer@wur.nl.
14.00 Workshops
- How to design a bat-friendly management plan for your fortress, Fons Bongers
- Is your project blessed with bats? Creative ways to attract visitors, Stefan Vreugdenhil
- Offering alternative spaces for bats, Herman Limpens
- Bat-friendly restoration of (military) heritage, Eric Jansen
15.00 Results of the workshops and remaining questions
15.30 Excursion Fort aan de Klop, Anton van Emst, Gemeente Utrecht and Eric Jansen, Dutch Mammal Society
17.00 drinks and bites
18.00 dinner